Painting a Ceiling Fan

An older ceiling fan can be dressed up with a paint job. You may want to simply paint the blades. But even if you paint the entire fan, proper preparation and paint choice will determine the outcome. This is a guide about painting a ceiling fan.

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Questions

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Does anyone know how to paint a ceiling fan. Mine is a bright brass with blades that really shine. I hate it and would like to settle it down a bit. Any ideas on what paint or perhaps a kit you know about for painting the entire fan. Thanks a lot!

Mitzi from DeLand, FL

Answers

By Dean (Guest Post)

September 19, 20061 found this helpful

When painting metal, especially brass, the paint can peel off in a short period of time if not prepared properly. My first thought is it may be less expensive to replace the fan or maybe the blades. Second the brass is usually coated with a clear lacquer to keep the brass looking bright so if you are to paint the blades your self the blades would have to be scuffed to hold a primer applied before the paint.

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Scuffing the lacquer would most likely remove it and if the paint failed the blades will look terrible. Third, maybe taking the blades to an automobile body shop, they paint metal all the time, they would be able to help. With the time and expense to do this, I think it would be a lot easier to replace the fan.

Depending on the make of the fan you can get replacement blades. They usually are just screwed onto the fan base. If you still want to paint, just remove the blades and sand them to rough them up a bit so the paint has something to stick to and use a spray paint for metal. Good luck!

If it were mine and I was only concerned about its brightness and shine, I would thoroughly clean it. Then making sure it was thoroughly dry and free of any residue, I would spray paint it with a clear flat lacquer.